Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced further spending on April 18, 2005, this time directed toward improving the processing of applications for citizenship.
The new expenditures will be an additional $69 million over two years to speed up processing. Additionally, the language and knowledge of Canada requirements will now be waived for applicants aged 55 years and older. This lowers the waiver age from 60 years and brings the program in-line with the naturalization policies of the United States and Australia.
The result of this investment will be a return to average processing times of 12 months for a grant of citizen ship and four months for proof of citizenship by 2007-2008. CIC expects that these goals will be accomplished by directing resources to modernize internal procedures and to increase the on-line services available.